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“Geronimo”


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      Hello all time to go for my next WIP. Im a little tired of jets at the moment, i need a subject with a propeller. I will build a P-40N from the 15th Fighter Group, 45th Fighter Squadron. Its a gilbert Island based unit and was a sister to the Makin island P-39’s in sand camouflage. I have this kit from AMT.

z1klcaB.jpg

Sadly it came with incomplete markings from the factory. It only has the nose art for the port side nose. Unfortunately i need both sides of the nose. I had a set coming from the canary islands but they disappeared somewhere in transit. AMT and Hasegawa kitted this “Geronimo” in 1/48th but i havent found any aftermarket or spares. That being said I will build it and save the noseart for a later day.  Ive started by correcting the kits needle blade propeller. I used spare blades from an eduard P-39 kit. I also had a spare etch harness so ive glued that into a modified seat. The AMT kit seats were these square odd shaped affairs. I sanded and filed mine into a more appropriate shape. Then i added a blank of plastic sheet to the armor plate. It had a nasty sinkhole on the backside. Normally i would ignore this but since the P-40N has the cut down spine behind the cockpit thats not an option. KADEIrx.jpg

 

Tomorrow i will begin painting the cockpit and doing some other odds and ends. Im just finishing my AV-8B Harrier build also so these will run side by side for a week or two. 

A teaser for the Harrier. 

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pjZZO0x.jpg

I will leave it here for now. Any questions ? comments ? Or jokes ? Please feel free to comment or offer advice. 

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Hello everybody ... Todays little update. I was able to paint and assemble the Pit. Heres the Instrument panel. 

gBayXN1.jpg

Next up the Starboard side

HbW3s1h.jpg

Then the portside 

C1i7EoF.jpg

Last up the seat. 

4jPrK5A.jpg

As isual any comments ? questions ? Or jokes ? Please feel free to comment or offer advice. 

 

Dennis

 

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Always liked any of theP-40 variants.  How do you find the AMT kit?  I have the AMT F7F and think it quite good for its age. Not sure if you’ve seen this, and it’s an L, not an N, but Temma does his usual complete re-work of it.  

 

http://www.geocities.jp/yoyuso/p40/p40e.html

 

Regarding the photos: try a slightly darker background next time.  Most cameras adjust exposure time to the brightest colour, or light.

With a light background and darker subject the exposure time is shorter and the dark subject loses detail.  At least that’s the way I understand it.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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On 3/6/2018 at 3:02 AM, DMC said:

 

Always liked any of theP-40 variants.  How do you find the AMT kit?

 

Thank Dennis for the photo info i use my cellular as i have no computer. I usually edit the photo’s but i rushed these. I agree on the P-40. I like all the variants as well, and I think the P-40 gets less credit than it should. They did very hard work for 3 out of the 4 years of war for the U.S. and longer if include the British/Commmonwealth use.

      I actually bought this kit for $10.00 a year ago at a chain hobby shop in the states known as “HobbyTown”. I was lucky in the fact the manager of the store had literally bought a 20 year Stash from someone minutes before i walked in. I would have bought the AMT P-40K kit but SWMBO was with me and said it was one or the other. I chose the “N” as its been a particular favorite of mine.

     I always liked the look of the cutdown spine. And as a 13 year old i actually got the chance to sit in the real deal. 

CxXrhbP.jpg

That Lady is Suzanne Parish. She let me sit in the cockpit once. The photo is from the internet. She was a great woman and flew that P-40 for many years. It now hangs in the Kalamazoo Air Zoo in Michigan. I believe she and her husband started the Museum as well. 

 

Dennis

 

P.S. - I actually had considered doing the Pink P-40N as a tribute to Ms. Parish, ultimately chose the Sand Camo. Scheme though.

 

🔺 - all rights belong to the original owners of photos. I use them strictly for information. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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      Hello Everybody ... Todays update. I was able to mount the exhaust stacks into the cowling panels. One of these days im going to mount an engine in one of these AMT kits. I had a set if exhausts left over from a different build that are better than the kit ones. 

Yp8juO5.jpg

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Then I mounted the cowling panels to the fuselage. As this is my 3rd AMT kit i know to use plastic strip to reinforce and provide more edge of the inside. This is so the panels dont get pushed in, ask me how i learned that little trick 😠. After some solid drying time in which i painted and mounted the carburetor intakes. 

      Next up i worked on the wings. I painted the wheel wells and clipped of the plastic blobs they call guns. Actually for some younger modelers and less experienced these would be sufficient if painted and drilled out. For myself i replace them with hollow brass tubing. In this case two different diameters to achieve the proper look. Something like this 

74ERHbf.jpg

🔺 photo from the internet. I will actually drill out and mount the guns/shrouds tomorrow as im letting the wing dry/cure right now. Next up i glued the cockpit to the Starboard half along with the cut down rear decking. I also added the carburetor package to the nose. Then it was time to join the Starboard and Port halves. Everything went well with that and currently the Warhawk is just sitting pressed together. 

yi7rLZD.jpg

Happily there is very little gap on the Fuselage to wing join. Nothing a little putty wont take care of. The last AMT i built was an “E” and that was way worse than this. Possibly warped wings on that one if memory serves. Heres how it looks currently. GQvjilZ.jpg

CmXqACI.jpg

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Enough for today as usual any comments ? questions ? Or jokes? Please feel free to comment or offer advice. 

 

Dennis

 

🔺 - all rights belong to the original owners of photos. I use them strictly for information. 

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Hello everybody ... Im sorry for my delay in posting. A case of life getting in the way and im stil finishing the Harrier build. So Ive had a chance to catch up and have to say this. I’ve built 3 AMT P-40’s and I have to say this must have been one of the very first kits ever made by them. No warped pieces, everything crisp, & no flash. This kit literally fell together, and I’ve used almost no filler. In fact i will begin painting in a couple of days. I just finished sanding earlier today and added the .50 cal’s. Using two sizes of brass tubing to get the telescoping effect. Enough talk heres a few photo’s. 99OdZIN.jpg

Heres my only goof so far and i didnt catch it until after i glued the Fuselage together. The dividers for the radiators and oil coolers is a bit cockeyed.  

Ur1Hbm0.jpg

I added the gun camera opening in the starboard wheel sponson. I also aded the two inlet ducts in the wing-roots.   

GZQOyfY.jpg

5E0OxI1.jpg

And of course an important thing is always to get the perfect cruciform of the vertical/horizontal tail planes. 

ImiWHRL.jpg

Enough for now next update should have some paint on it. As usual any comments ? questions ? or jokes ? Please feel free to comment or offer advice. 

 

Dennis

 

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On 3/6/2018 at 7:16 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Thank Dennis for the photo info i use my cellular as i have no computer. I usually edit the photo’s but i rushed these. I agree on the P-40. I like all the variants as well, and I think the P-40 gets less credit than it should. They did very hard work for 3 out of the 4 years of war for the U.S. and longer if include the British/Commmonwealth use.

      I actually bough this kit for $10.00 a year ago at a chain hobby shop in the states known as “HobbyTown”. I was lucky in the fact the manager of the store had literally bought a 20 year Stash from someone minutes before i walked in. I would have bought the AMT P-40K kit but SWMBO was with me and said it was one or the other. I chose the “N” as its been a particular favorite of mine.

     I always liked the look of the cutdown spine. And as a 13 year old i actually got the chance to sit in the real deal. 

CxXrhbP.jpg

That Lady is Suzanne Parish. She let me sit in the cockpit once. The photo is from the internet. She was a great woman and flew that P-40 for many years. It now hangs in the Kalamazoo Air Zoo in Michigan. I believe she and her husband started the Museum as well. 

 

Dennis

 

P.S. - I actually had considered doing the Pink P-40N as a tribute to Ms. Parish, ultimately chose the Sand Camo. Scheme though.

 

🔺 - all rights belong to the original owners of photos. I use them strictly for information. 

Hello Cousin !

The Sue Parrish P-40 was not in an authentic painting ! Great woman indeed !

Glad for you, The P-40 is a great A/C, I also some in my stock !

The -N will be Trixie, there was a great decal shhet from victory model

Lots of P-40 on this...

Good work, I'll follow if you don't mind ?

Sincerely.

CC

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31 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

 

The Sue Parrish P-40 was not in an authentic painting !

Hello cousin ... Please follow along, & yes im quite aware the scheme wasn't authentic. I would have done it as a way of keeping that memory of my youth alive. Actually there will be a new post concerning the WIP in the next few hours. Im just editing the photo’s as we speak. 

 

Dennis

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16 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello cousin ... Please follow along, & yes im quite aware the scheme wasn't authentic. I would have done it as a way of keeping that memory of my youth alive. Actually there will be a new post concerning the WIP in the next few hours. Im just editing the photo’s as we speak. 

 

Dennis

Great !

Aw sorry, I understand it well !

Can't wait to see the piccies !

sincerely.

CC

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Hello Everybody ... So I’ve gotten quite a bit done on “Geronimo”. But before that a little history about the paint-scheme. This is a paraphrased quote from a book about the squadron.

 

    “The P-40’s looked like a dirty Nile green and stood out against the treeless white of Canton island.” ... “We gave them a coral sand coat on top. And a sky blue underside, so much so that the planes disappeared when directly overhead.”  

 

I took this from an excerpt from the book. I plan on basing my painting of Geronimo based on these descriptions. I started by spraying some Tamiya aluminum on the fuselage and upper wings. Then i dabbed on some liquid mask in a few spots to help with worn paint weathering. Then that was followed by painting zinc-chromate. I did that yesterday and here is what it looked like as of this morning. 

tUGfxW0.jpg

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Next up today i sprayed the faded US Olive Drab to give it the “Dirty Nile Green” look. I then sprayed the Medium green mottle on the wings and Vertical tail as i plan on over spraying the sand/coral color and having some worn areas. Heres what Geronimo looks like as of two hours ago. I scrubbed off the liquid mask to get some worn areas similar to the hairspray technique. 

WteI89u.jpg

And a close up showing the worn areas up close. Next i will spray the hairspray to prep for the sand/coral color. 

nqgEhkU.jpg

The Port side views 

l2ChfUm.jpg

A close up

ymFAxBl.jpg

A quick view from above next.

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Here are two photos i found a year ago of planes from the Squadron showing what im generally trying to achieve.  You can see that the planes were overpainted by the stencil locations. 

sHfHUeF.jpg

Also this is kind of where im going with the worn paint look. These planes were ridden hard and put away tired.  4jhwE3P.jpg

Enough for today ... tomorrow the sand paint. Questions ? comments ? Or jokes ? Please feel free to offer advice or comment. 

 

Dennis

 

🔺 - all rights belong to the original owners of photos. I use them strictly for information purposes. 

 

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Hello @Blitz23 ... I’d appreciate that but im not really sure i can pay for postage from the U.K. To the U.S.A. at this time. Thats why i haven't placed another ad in the wanted section. Im thinking of either doing just the port side temporarily or doing another plane in the squadron. 

 

2 minutes ago, monsjmse said:

 

That's taken shape very quickly.

 

Yes it did like i said in an earlier post, I think this was an early production AMT kit. It was almost perfect with little if any gaps, flash, & no warps. I fully expected to wrestle this for a few more weeks. Now im trying to figure out what i will do next ? 

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Hello all ... So I masked the areas for the few stencils staying on the olive green. Then I sprayed to very liberal coats of hairspray and let that dry. When that was done i went ahead and sprayed the sand/coral color, and clearcoat. This is where “Geronimo” is at today. 

Ey524jJ.jpg

dAUCioN.jpg

DvJLAmu.jpg

Some closeups Port side first.

JOvUGsP.jpg

L8dVUtJ.jpg

Then the Starboard side.

9QZF32k.jpg

APJ8rYE.jpg

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It may look overdone but thats kinda the look i want. I want some worn paint, and peeling paint in areas thus the larger spots. Enough for today Questions ? comments ? Or jokes ? Feel free to comment or offer advice.

 

Dennis

 

 

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Like the look you're going for here..

Is there a way to reduce photo file size?

Just my little android phone is having a nervous breakdown loading this!

Maybe of interest-  paint wear on prop blades happens on the Back of the blade 

 

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Very nice pit and guns and I really do like the effect you are going for with the zinc chromate and primer - excellent work all round really. I note the kit is "Skill Level 2" I'm more than sure you're up to that B).

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35 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

Is there a way to reduce photo file size?

Sorry Rob im using my Apple cellular to upload. I have zero access to the internet or photo’s otherwise. I have a 35mm camera but my last computer committed seppuku ( fried itself). 

 

Dennis

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On 3/15/2018 at 7:51 PM, Nigel Heath said:

I note the kit is "Skill Level 2" I'm more than sure you're up to that B).

Yeah it was in the 1990’s when it came out. Thanks Its my 5th AMT P-40 kit so there kind of 2nd nature by now.

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Hello everybody ... Well the paintings done. Another long session in the paint booth brings up to date. I sprayed Tamiya Neutral grey. Waited awhile and sprayed the sky blue. Waited some more and scrubbed back to the lower colors. And im very happy with the results. H4lqP0u.jpg

And a close up of the central area of the wing/fuselage area. 

ZzW5oP2.jpg

Like i said im happy with the results. This looks like a hard used P-40 to my eyes. As usual any questions ? comments ? Or jokes ? Feel free to offer advice or just chat. 

 

Dennis

 

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Hello everyone ... Im adding these photo’s just to show where i came up with my ideas pertaining to weathering. @Nigel Heath ... Asked a good question. I thought Id try and give some examples. Heres a couple photo’s from a book that show P-40E’s in Connecticut just after the start of WW2 and you can see the wear on the wings from boots and staining.VNngKsH.jpg

This is a stateside unit not even in a war zone. I assume aircraft in a combat zone would get even more weathered and abused. RfUoS0B.jpg

A close up of this photo. 

AV79yiV.jpg

And heres one from the actual unit in a combat zone that im modeling. 

4jhwE3P.jpg

As you can see coral dust is very abrasive to the leading edge both in front, on top, and below. I hope this answers any questions.

 

Dennis

 

🔺 - all rights belong to the original owners of photos. I use them strictly for information purposes. 

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Hello everybody ... Todays update brings us through Decals and weathering. I opted to use the single Noseart I do have, and will add the Starboard noseart sometime in the future. Heres where “Geronimo” sits as of today. 

iHaY5e4.jpg

Ti3F1X5.jpg

4Sf2DuI.jpg

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WiVjDM1.jpg

t2GbbKi.jpg

qsPbZ1T.jpg

So enough for now, i will be working on the landing gear, canopies, and antennas next. As usual any questions ? comments ? Or jokes ? are welcome. Criticisms and advice welcome. 

 

Dennis

 

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